How to Joint Boards without a Jointer

Jointing boards. The bane of my existence for every table build. I would put it off as long as I could, because to be honest, I could never figure out how to do it well. I actually have a jointer, but it’s small, off square, and I’ve never had any luck with it.

BUT! I have finally found an easy, foolproof way to joint long boards for a tabletop. And I’m going to tell you all about how to get those perfect seams when you don’t have a jointer!

For those of you wondering what the heck jointing a board even means, it is when you make the edges of boards straight and square – a technique that’s imperative when creating a quality tabletop, cutting board, etc with no gaps in the top.

In the past, I have attempted to joint boards with a track saw, table saw, even my jointer. Since I never had any luck, I thought I’d share with you all this effective method since it uses something you might have on hand: a router.

I started with this flush trim routing bit.

Now, let me show you the setup: I bought an MDF shelf found in the closet section of Home Depot. It has a factory-made edge and it’s the straightest I could find. Make sure to find one longer than the stock you are jointing. The router bearing of the flush trim bit runs along this straight edge of the MDF.

You will then place your stock on top of the MDF board, with the edge that you want to joint with a slight overhang. Clamp it well!

By the way, I love these hold down peg clamps made for dog holes in my workbench. I highly recommend them!

RELATED: Ever wonder how to flatten a slab with a router? Check out this DIY Wood Slab Flattening Router Jig.

Adjust the depth of the flush trim bit to where the bearing runs along the straight edge and the blades trim the board sitting on top.

It’s important to make sure your boards are flat on the top and bottom for the router to run on. If it’s off square, you’re edge won’t be square either. I ran these through my planer before I jointed the edges.

I found it helpful to mark all of my boards as I completed jointing them. When you’re building a tabletop with about 6 boards, two edges each, you will be repeating this process quite a few times.

So, there you have it! A quick method for getting perfectly straight and square edges, jointed with a router. Perfect for when you don’t have a jointer!

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